1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season

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1981 Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series Champions
National League Champions
NL West champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Dodger Stadium (since 1962)
  • Los Angeles (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s)Peter O'Malley
General manager(s)Al Campanis
Manager(s)Tommy Lasorda
Local televisionKTTV (11)
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
ONTV
Geoff Witcher, Al Downing
Local radioKABC
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
KTNQ
Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
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The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season got off to a strong start when rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout on opening day, starting the craze that came to be known as "Fernandomania." Fernando went on to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.

The season was divided into two halves because of a players' strike in mid-season. The Dodgers won the Western Division of the National League in the first half and advanced to the playoffs. They beat the Houston Astros in a divisional playoff and the Montreal Expos in the National League Championship Series before beating the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

Offseason[]

  • December 4, 1980: Don Sutton signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent.
  • March 30, 1981: Acquired Ken Landreaux[1] from the Minnesota Twins for Mickey Hatcher and Matt Reeves[2]

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 66 42 0.611 — 32–22 34–20
Los Angeles Dodgers 63 47 0.573 4 33–23 30–24
Houston Astros 61 49 0.555 6 31–20 30–29
San Francisco Giants 56 55 0.505 11½ 29–24 27–31
Atlanta Braves 50 56 0.472 15 22–27 28–29
San Diego Padres 41 69 0.373 26 20–35 21–34
NL West
First Half Standings 		W L Pct. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 36 21 .632 —
Cincinnati Reds 35 21 .625 1⁄2
Houston Astros 28 29 .491 8
Atlanta Braves 25 29 .463 9+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants 27 32 .458 10
San Diego Padres 23 33 .411 12+1⁄2
NL West
Second Half Standings 		W L Pct. GB
Houston Astros 33 20 .623 —
Cincinnati Reds 31 21 .596 1+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants 29 23 .558 3+1⁄2
Los Angeles Dodgers 27 26 .509 6
Atlanta Braves 25 27 .481 7+1⁄2
San Diego Padres 18 36 .333 15+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents[]

1981 National League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 3–2–1 6–5 4–8 7–7 3–7 3–3 4–5 2–3 9–6 5–7 4–3
Chicago 2–3–1 — 1–5 1–6 6–4 4–7 5–8–1 2–10 4–10 3–3 5–5 5–4–1
Cincinnati 5–6 5–1 — 8–4 8–8 5–4 7–3 5–2 4–2 10–2 9–5 0–5
Houston 8–4 6–1 4–8 — 4–8 5–2 6–3 4–6 2–4 11–3 9–6 2–4
Los Angeles 7–7 4–6 8–8 8–4 — 5–2 5–1 3–3 5–1 6–5 7–5 5–5
Montreal 7–3 7–4 4–5 2–5 2–5 — 9–3 7–4 10–3 4–2 2–5 6–9
New York 3–3 8–5–1 3–7 3–6 1–5 3–9 — 7–7 3–6–1 2–5 2–4 6–5
Philadelphia 5-4 10–2 2–5 6–4 3–3 4–7 7–7 — 7–5 4–2 4–3 7–6
Pittsburgh 3–2 10–4 2–4 4–2 1–5 3–10 6–3–1 5–7 — 6–4 3–7 3–8
San Diego 6–9 3–3 2–10 3–11 5–6 2–4 5–2 2–4 4–6 — 6–7 3–7
San Francisco 7–5 5–5 5–9 6–9 5–7 5–2 4–2 3–4 7–3 7–6 — 2–3
St. Louis 3–4 4–5–1 5–0 4–2 5–5 9–6 5–6 6–7 8–3 7–3 3–2 —


Opening Day lineup[]

Opening Day starters
Name Position
Davey Lopes Second baseman
Ken Landreaux Center fielder
Dusty Baker Left fielder
Steve Garvey First baseman
Ron Cey Third baseman
Pedro Guerrero Right fielder
Mike Scioscia Catcher
Bill Russell Shortstop
Fernando Valenzuela Starting pitcher

Roster[]

1981 Los Angeles Dodgers

Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager
  •  2 Tommy Lasorda

Coaches

Game log[]

1981 Game Log (63–47)
April (14–5)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 April 9 Astros W 2–0 Valenzuela (1–0) Niekro (0–1) – 50,511 1–0
2 April 11 Astros W 7–4 Hooton (1–0) Sutton (0–1) – 51,691 2–0
3 April 12 Astros W 3–2 Sutcliffe (1–0) Ruhle (0–1) Howe (1) 50,734 3–0
10 April 20 @ Astros W 5–2 Hooton (3–0) Andújar (0–1) Goltz (1) 21,730 9–1
11 April 21 @ Astros L 0–1 Knepper (1–0) Reuss (0–1) – 21,904 9–2
12 April 22 @ Astros W 1–0 Valenzuela (4–0) Sutton (0–3) – 22,830 10–2
May (19–10)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
20 May 1 @ Expos L 8–9 (13) Lee (1–0) Castillo (0–2) – 28,179 14–6
21 May 2 @ Expos W 4–0 Reuss (2–1) Sanderson (3–1) – 22,820 15–6
22 May 3 @ Expos W 6–1 (10) Valenzuela (6–0) Gullickson (1–2) – 46,405 16–6
23 May 4 @ Expos L 3–4 Rogers (3–1) Sutcliffe (2–2) Sosa (2) 21,527 16–7
24 May 5 @ Phillies L 7–8 Lyle (2–1) Castillo (0–3) – 27,241 16–8
25 May 6 @ Phillies W 2–1 Hooton (4–0) Espinosa (1–2) – 25,850 17–8
26 May 7 @ Phillies W 2–1 Reuss (3–1) Bystrom (2–1) – 29,259 18–8
30 May 12 Expos W 5–0 Hooton (5–0) Burris (2–3) Howe (4) 34,367 21–9
31 May 13 Expos W 8–6 Howe (2–1) Fryman (2–1) – 42,712 22–9
32 May 14 Expos W 3–2 Valenzuela (8–0) Ratzer (1–1) – 53,906 23–9
36 May 18 Phillies L 0–4 Bystrom (3–2) Valenzuela (8–1) – 52,439 26–10
37 May 19 Phillies L 2–3 Ruthven (6–1) Welch (2–2) – 43,812 26–11
38 May 20 Phillies W 3–2 (10) Howe (4–1) McGraw (1–4) – 50,917 27–11
June (3–6)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
August (12–9)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
September (13–15)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
101 September 25 @ Astros W 3–0 Hooton (11–6) Ruhle (4–5) – 35,481 60–41
102 September 26 @ Astros L 0–5 Ryan (10–5) Power (1–3) – 32,115 60–42
103 September 27 @ Astros L 1–4 Sutton (11–8) Valenzuela (13–6) – 41,686 60–43
October (2–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
108 October 2 Astros W 6–1 Reuss (10–4) Sutton (11–9) – 46,108 62–46
109 October 3 Astros W 7–2 Welch (9–5) Niekro (9–9) – 42,272 63–46
110 October 4 Astros L 3–5 Smith (5–3) Goltz (2–7) – 47,072 63–47
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Dodgers team member

Starting pitchers stats[]

Name G GS IP ERA W/L BB SO CG
Fernando Valenzuela 25 25 192.3 2.48 13-7 61 180 11
Burt Hooton 23 23 142.3 2.28 11-6 33 74 5
Bob Welch 23 23 141.3 3.44 9-5 41 88 2
Jerry Reuss 22 22 152.7 2.30 10-4 27 51 8

Relief pitchers stats[]

Name G GS IP ERA W/L BB SO SV
Steve Howe 41 0 54.0 2.50 5-3 18 32 8
Bobby Castillo 34 1 50.7 5.33 2-4 18 32 5
Dave Stewart 32 0 43.3 2.49 4-3 14 29 6
Terry Forster 21 0 30.7 4.11 0-1 15 17 0
Dave Goltz 26 8 77.0 4.09 2-7 25 48 1
Rick Sutcliffe 14 6 47.0 4.02 2-2 20 16 0
Tom Niedenfuer 17 0 26.0 3.81 3-1 6 12 2
Alejandro Peña 14 0 25.3 2.84 1-1 11 14 2
Ted Power 5 2 14.3 3.14 1-3 7 7 0

Batting stats[]

Name Pos G AB Avg. R H HR RBI SB
Mike Scioscia C 93 290 .276 27 80 2 29 0
Steve Yeager C 42 86 .209 5 18 3 7 0
Jerry Grote C 2 2 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Steve Garvey 1B 110 431 .283 63 122 10 64 3
Davey Lopes 2B 58 214 .289 35 44 5 17 20
Bill Russell SS 82 262 .233 20 61 0 22 2
Ron Cey 3B 85 312 .288 42 90 13 50 0
Derrel Thomas 2B/3B/SS/OF 80 218 .248 25 54 4 24 7
Steve Sax 2B 31 119 .277 15 33 2 9 5
Pepe Frías SS/2B/3B 25 36 .250 6 9 0 3 0
Reggie Smith 1B 41 35 .200 5 7 1 8 0
Mike Marshall 1B/3B/OF 14 25 .200 2 5 0 1 0
Gary Weiss SS 14 19 .105 2 2 0 1 0
Jack Perconte 2B 8 9 .222 2 2 0 1 1
Dusty Baker OF 103 400 .320 48 128 9 49 10
Pedro Guerrero OF/3B/1B 98 347 .300 46 104 12 48 5
Ken Landreaux OF 99 390 .251 48 98 7 41 18
Rick Monday OF 66 130 .315 24 41 11 25 1
Jay Johnstone OF/1B 61 83 .205 8 17 3 6 0
Ron Roenicke OF 22 47 .234 6 11 0 0 1
Joe Ferguson OF 17 14 .143 2 2 0 1 0
Candy Maldonado OF 11 12 .093 0 1 0 0 0
Bobby Mitchell OF 10 5 .125 0 1 0 0 0
Mark Bradley OF 9 6 .167 2 1 0 0 0

Postseason[]

Game log[]

1981 Postseason Game Log: (10–6)
National League Division Series (3–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 October 6 @ Astros L 1–3 Ryan (1–0) Stewart (0–1) – 44,836 0–1
2 October 7 @ Astros L 0–1 (11) Sambito (1–0) Stewart (0–2) – 42,398 0–2
3 October 9 Astros W 6–1 Hooton (1–0) Knepper (0–1) – 46,820 1–2
4 October 10 Astros W 2–1 Valenzuela (1–0) Ruhle (0–1 – 55,983 2–2
5 October 11 Astros W 4–0 Reuss (1–0) Ryan (1–1) – 55,979 3–2
National League Championship Series (3–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 October 13 Expos W 5–1 Hooton (1–0) Gullickson (0–1) – 51,273 1–0
2 October 14 Expos L 0–3 Burris (1–0) Valenzuela (0–1) – 53,463 1–1
3 October 16 @ Expos L 1–4 Rogers (1–0) Reuss (0–1) – 54,372 1–2
4 October 17 @ Expos W 7–1 Hooton (2–0) Gullickson (0–2) – 54,499 2–2
5 October 19 @ Expos W 2–1 Valenzuela (1–1) Rogers (1–1) Welch (1) 36,491 3–2
World Series (4–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 October 20 @ Yankees L 3–5 Guidry (1–0) Reuss (0–1) Gossage (1) 56,470 0–1
2 October 21 @ Yankees L 0–3 John (1–0) Hooton (0–1) Gossage (2) 56,505 0–2
3 October 23 Yankees W 5–4 Valenzuela (1–0) Frazier (0–1) – 56,236 1–2
4 October 24 Yankees W 8–7 Howe (1–0) Frazier (0–2) – 56,242 2–2
5 October 25 Yankees W 2–1 Reuss (1–1) Ron Guidry (1–1) – 56,115 3–2
6 October 28 @ Yankees W 9–2 Hooton (1–1) Frazier (0–3) Howe (1) 56,513 4–2
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Dodgers team member

1981 National League Division Series[]

Main article: 1981 National League Division Series

In the divisional series, the Dodgers fell behind the Houston Astros two games to zero but came back to win the next three games to take the series and advance to the LCS.

Game 1[]

October 6, The Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Houston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 8 0
W: Nolan Ryan (1-0)  L: Dave Stewart (0-1)  
HRs: LA – Steve Garvey (1)  HOU – Alan Ashby (1)

Game 2[]

October 7, The Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 0
W: Joe Sambito (1-0)  L: Dave Stewart (0-2)  
HRs: LA – none   HOU – none

Game 3[]

October 9, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Los Angeles 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 X 6 10 0
W: Burt Hooton (1-0)  L: Bob Knepper (0-1)  
HRs: HOU – Art Howe (1)  LA – Steve Garvey (2)

Game 4[]

October 10, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 X 2 4 0
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0)  L: Vern Ruhle (0-1)  
HRs: HOU – none  LA – Pedro Guerrero (1)

Game 5[]

October 11, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 X 4 7 2
W: Jerry Reuss (1-0)  L: Nolan Ryan (1-1)  
HRs: HOU – none  LA – none

1981 National League Championship Series[]

Main article: 1981 National League Championship Series

The Dodgers faced the Montreal Expos in the 1981 NLCS and beat them three games to two, thanks to a ninth-inning home run by Rick Monday in Game 5.

Game 1[]

October 13, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 0
Los Angeles 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 X 5 8 0
W: Burt Hooton (1-0)  L: Bill Gullickson (0-1)  
HRs: MON – None  LAD – Pedro Guerrero (1), Mike Scioscia (1)
Pitchers: MON – Gullickson, Reardon (8)  LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)
Attendance: 51,273

Game 2[]

October 14, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 10 1
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
W: Ray Burris (1-0)  L: Fernando Valenzuela (0-1)  
HRs: MON – None  LAD – None
Pitchers: MON – Burris  LAD – Valenzuela, Niedenfuer (7), Forster (7), Pena (7), Castillo (9)
Attendance: 53,463

Game 3[]

October 16, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 X 4 7 1
W: Steve Rogers (1-0)  L: Jerry Reuss (0-1)  
HRs: LAD – None  MON – Jerry White (1)
Pitchers: LAD – Reuss, Pena (8)  MON – Rogers
Attendance: 54,372

Game 4[]

October 17, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 7 12 1
Montreal 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
W: Burt Hooton (2-0)  L: Bill Gullickson (0-2)
HRs: LAD – Steve Garvey (1)  MON – None
Pitchers: LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)  MON – Gullickson, Fryman (8), Sosa (9), Lee (9)
Attendance: 54,499

Game 5[]

October 19, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 6 0
Montreal 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-1)  L: Steve Rogers (1-1)  SV: Bob Welch (1)
HRs: LAD – Rick Monday (1)  MON – None
Pitchers: LAD – Valenzuela, Welch (9)  MON – Burris, Rogers (9)
Attendance: 36,491

1981 World Series[]

Main article: 1981 World Series

The Dodgers met the New York Yankees in the World Series once again, this time beating them in six games to claim their first championship since 1965.

Game 1[]

October 20, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 5 0
New York 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 5 6 0
W: Ron Guidry (1-0)  L: Jerry Reuss (0-1)  SV: Goose Gossage (1)
HRs: LAD – Steve Yeager (1)  NY – Bob Watson (1)

Game 2[]

October 21, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 X 3 6 1
W: Tommy John (1-0)  L: Burt Hooton (0-1)  SV: Goose Gossage (2)
HRs: LAD – none  NY – none

Game 3[]

October 23, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
Los Angeles 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 5 11 1
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0)  L: George Frazier (0-1)  SV: none)
HRs: NY – Rick Cerone (1), Bob Watson (2)  LA – Ron Cey (1)

Game 4[]

October 24, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 7 13 1
Los Angeles 0 0 2 0 1 3 2 0 X 8 14 2
W: Steve Howe (1-0)  L: George Frazier (0-2)  SV: none)
HRs: NY – Willie Randolph (1), Reggie Jackson (1)  LA – Jay Johnstone (1)

Game 5[]

October 25, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 2 4 3
W: Jerry Reuss (1-1)  L: Ron Guidry (1-1)  SV: none
HRs: NY – none   LA – Pedro Guerrero (1), Steve Yeager (2)

Game 6[]

October 28, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 1 3 4 0 1 0 9 13 1
New York 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 2
W: Burt Hooton (1-1)  L: George Frazier (0-3)  SV: Steve Howe (1)
HRs: LAD – Pedro Guerrero (2)   NY – Willie Randolph (2)

1981 awards[]

Farm system[]

Level Team League Manager
AAA Albuquerque Dukes Pacific Coast League Del Crandall
AA San Antonio Dodgers Texas League Don LeJohn
High A Lodi Dodgers California League Terry Collins
High A Vero Beach Dodgers Florida State League Stan Wasiak
Rookie Lethbridge Dodgers Pioneer League Gary LaRocque

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft[]

Main article: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft

The Dodgers drafted 33 players in the June draft and 18 in the January draft. Of those, eight players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received an extra pick in the 2nd round from the Houston Astros as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Don Sutton.

The Dodgers first round pick in the June draft was shortstop Dave Anderson from the University of Memphis. He played 10 seasons in the Majors (8 of them with the Dodgers), primarily as a utility infielder. The draft also included pitchers Sid Fernandez (round 3) and John Franco (round 5), both of whom would have lengthy Major League careers primarily with the New York Mets after the Dodgers traded them.

Notes[]

  1. ^ "Ken Landreaux Stats".
  2. ^ Matt Reeves
  3. ^ 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
  4. ^ 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
  5. ^ 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  6. ^ 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References[]

External links[]

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